Jackpot

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT JACKPOT - PAGE 3

martinsburg@herald-mail.com CHARLES TOWN, W.VA. Three of 19 stylists at Hair Cuttery in Charles Town had to be begged to contribute money to buy 360 Powerball tickets earlier this week, but it's likely none are complaining now - after taxes, each will take home more than $30,000 in winnings. One of the 360 tickets matched the first five numbers of Wednesday's Powerball drawing - 7, 21, 43, 44 and 49. The Powerball number on the ticket was 34, but the winning number was 29, according to a press release from the West Virginia Lottery Commission.

Keep parks open, safe To the editor: Washington County does have a Lotto! This jackpot works for the Department of Parks and Recreation and has worked for 30 years for Washington County - so he doesn't "have" to do anything. But he works at Black Rock Park - technically doing custodial and security service - and much more. Last week, an intercultural picnic (with language differences, etc. - can you imagine being with people actually not FROM Washington County? Sorry folks, we exist)

ryant@herald-mail.com Hagerstown lottery retailers said Wednesday that Friday's record-setting Mega Millions jackpot, expected to reach $280 million, is a big reason why their stores have been busy all week. The largest jackpot since the game changed from The Big Game in May 2002 has been growing as the jackpot went unclaimed. Tuesday's drawing was the 15th consecutive drawing without a jackpot winner. Workers at Byers Stop-N-Go on North Burhans Boulevard put up a sign to remind patrons of Friday's jackpot.

Gary Yates, left, buys a Mega Millions lottery ticket Monday from Jeremy Byers at Byers' Stop-N-Go on Burhans Boulevard. Turn to page A1 to find out what equations area residents use to try to calculate the winning numbers.

Due to high ticket sales, projections for today's record-setting Mega Millions jackpot drawing increased by another $10 million Thursday, bringing the estimated total to $290 million, Maryland Lottery communications officer Gail Pelovitz said. The jackpot has a pre-tax cash option of $163 million. Tonight's drawing will have the highest jackpot offering since the game changed from The Big Game in May 2002. Tuesday's $220 million jackpot was the 15th consecutive drawing to fail to produce a jackpot winner.

CHARLES TOWN, W.VA. - Charles Town Races & Slots recorded its biggest slot machine payout last week when a Washington, D.C., woman won more than $1 million on a "progressive" slot machine that is part of a three-state game. Brenda Jackson was playing a 25-cent machine Nov. 6 when she hit a combination that won her $1,069,594, according to track and state lottery officials. Jackson was sitting at the machine and thinking about what she was going to have for dinner that night when "this funny screen came up" at 12:49 p.m., said Margaret Patterson, the track's advertising manager.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- For about two hours, Berkeley County Magistrate W. Randy Smith believed he had come close, but that he didn't win Saturday's $79 million Powerball jackpot. On call Sunday morning at the Berkeley County Judicial Center to hold arraignment hearings, Smith asked his assistant, Mary D. Angelo, to look at the ticket that he bought from the ROCS store at 39 Kelly Island Road near Martinsburg. The ticket matched the winning numbers of 7, 10, 12, 22, 27 and the Powerball 26. Smith said the computer picked his numbers.

MARLOWE, W.Va. - Jackpot fever was heating up again in the Tri-State area Friday as the potential prize in today's Powerball lottery drawing neared the $100 million mark. Larry Bard of St. Thomas, Pa., drove down Interstate 81 to the 7-Eleven in Marlowe, W.Va., to buy 20 tickets for himself, his wife, and his friends at work at Letterkenny Army Depot near Chambersburg, Pa. "The jackpot's starting to get up there," Bard said. The jackpot for today's drawing was estimated at $95 million on Friday.